European Factors to Watch-Equity futures point to lower start; eyes on Greece

(Adds futures, further company news)
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - European shares were indicated to edge lower at
the open on Thursday, giving back some of the late gains made the previous day
as euphoria about a possible deal between Greece and its creditors faded.
Futures on the Euro STOXX 50, Germany's DAX, France's CAC
and Britain's FTSE equity indexes down between 0.1 percent and
0.3 percent at 0630 GMT.
European shares had rallied late on Wednesday on reports of staff-level
agreement between Greece and its creditors but German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble later said there was not much progress in the debt talks and he was
surprised by the upbeat tone from some Greek government officials.
Greece and its EU/IMF lenders have been locked in tortuous negotiations on a
reforms agreement for four months without a breakthrough in sight. Without a
deal, Athens risks default or bankruptcy in weeks.
COMPANY NEWS
AIRBUS GROUP
Airbus Group faced down a revolt by government shareholders over a board
appointment and invited its chief executive to stay on until 2019 as Europe's
largest aerospace company consolidated a recent push for political independence.
ROCHE
Roche and Galenica said they have reached an exclusive
license agreement to sell the Basel-based drugmaker's Mircera, a treatment for
symptomatic anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease, in the United States
and Puerto Rico.
For more, click on
GLENCORE
Investment firm First Reserve is selling the remaining part of its stake in
mining company Glencore, and has priced shares in the accelerated bookbuild at
286.75 pence a share, a bookrunner on the deal said on Wednesday.
MINERS
Major iron ore miners are unlikely to create a cartel and agree on output
cuts to shore up prices, with weakening demand expected to intensify
competition, Goldman Sachs said.
UNICREDIT
The bank's CEO Federico Ghizzoni said on Wednesday he expected to find a
partner to help manage a real estate loans portfolio worth more than 1 billion
euros by end 2015. The CEO also said Q2 was going well.
PIRELLI
The CEO of UniCredito, an investor in Pirelli shareholder Camfin, said on
Wednesday he did not believe there were risks of a counter bid for Pirelli after
hedge fund Paulson's investment in the tyre maker.
BANCA POPOLARE DI MILANO
The cooperative lender wants to be among the first movers to play a role in
the process of consolidation that is expected to follow reform of the sector,
the bank's CEO Giuseppe Castagna said on Wednesday.
ICBPI, CREDITO VALTELLINESE
The owners of Italy's ICBPI said on Wednesday they had chosen a private
equity consortium of Bain Capital, Advent International and Clessidra to enter
exclusive talks to buy the bank service provider.
GERMAN BANKS
Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven economic powers will discuss the idea
of a code of conduct for bankers on Thursday, without committing themselves to
any decisions, a German delegation source said.
COMMERZBANK
The lender plans to drop at least half of its more than 400 products in its
private banking unit, senior management board member told Boersen-Zeitung.
LUFTHANSA
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday announced that a joint
government-industry group will review how the agency monitors the mental health
of commercial pilots and will make recommendations within six
months.
TELECOM ITALIA, TELECOM ITALIA MEDIA
Telecom Italia Media, which is being incorporated into Telecom Italia, said
on Wednesday the opt-out exit price for shareholders wishing to withdraw from
the merger would be 1.055 euros for each ordinary share and 0.6032 euros for
each savings share.
EDF
The French utility is opening up to the world of start-ups with a 90 million
euro fund that has already screened 1,000 projects and invested in half a dozen,
including one which says its batteries could rival those sold by Tesla.
LAFARGE
Cement group Lafarge's labour committee is to meet on June 9 to decide its
staffing requirements for the coming three years, a union source said.
LAGARDERE
The media to distribution group has bought 82 percent of Spanish audiovisual
production group Boomerang TV for an undisclosed sum, Le Figaro newspaper
reported citing company officials.
DEUTSCHE WOHNEN
The real estate company said late on Wednesday that the subscription price
for its capital increase was 21.50 euros ($23.43) per share and that it expects
gross proceeds of about 907 million euros from the transaction.
MAJOR EUROPEAN COMPANIES REPORTING:
RIC Event Name
Q1 2015 Folli Follie Earnings Release
Q1 2015 Seadrill Ltd Earnings Release
Q1 2015 CAT oil AG Earnings Release
Q1 2015 S Immo AG Earnings Release
Full Year 2014/2015 Soitec SA Earnings Release
Full Year 2014/2015 Tate & Lyle PLC Earnings Release
IG Group Holdings PLC Pre-Close Trading Statement Release
Q1 2015 Kingfisher PLC Trading Statement Release
Q1 2015 Alpha Bank SA Earnings Release
Q1 2015 Hellenic Petroleum SA Earnings Release
MAJOR MACROECONOMIC DATA/EVENTS (GMT) :
0800 IT Business, consumer confidence May
0830 GB GDP 2nd release Q1
0900 EZ Business climate May
1230 US Initial jobless claims w/e
1400 US Pending home sales Apr
> Asian shares drop, dollar hits 13-year high vs yen
> Tech, healthcare lead Wall St higher; Nasdaq hits record
> Nikkei rises for 10th day as weak yen lifts exporters
> Long-dated yields dip on month-end buying, Greece fears
> Dollar hits highest vs yen since 2002, Aussie sags
> Gold hovers near 2-week low on firm dollar, US rate outlook
> London copper edges off 1-month lows as dollar drops
> Oil prices edge up ahead of US inventories data
(Reporting By Francesco Canepa)